La Esquina
106 Kenmare Street at Cleveland Place
New York, NY 10012
(646) 613-7100
Subway: 6 to Spring Street
Bus: M103 to Kenmare/Delancey Streets
It’s amazing that a neon-signed Mexican restaurant has become a destination. La Esquina, which means “the corner” in Spanish, may be Manhattan’s only Mexican “speakeasy”, which, as evidenced by the constant crowds at Chumley’s, is a major marketing tool in a city where “getting in” is one of the coolest things that can happen to you.
Part of the mystery of La Esquina is finding the entrance. When you enter the narrow, truck-stop-esque taqueria, it seems dingy with some counter seating and fluorescent lighting. There’s always some people milling around. Don’t let the shabby vagrant fool you; he, along with a girl sitting at the counter, is probably your key to enter the red doorway.
My husband refused to believe that we were in the right place, and he was amazed when I gave our party’s name, like a secret password, she whipped out her hidden mic and radioed down that 2 more were heading down for our party. And voila! We were allowed entrance.
After climbing down a staircase to another hostess station through the kitchen and another hallway, you enter a candlelit subterranean bar and dining room. The center room has loungey couches and a large bar which is flanked on each side by tables of diners; rooms are divided by prison gates and bottles of wine. Music isn’t overpowering and complements La Esquina’s sexy feel. Wooden tables emphasize the underground dungeon feel, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if aged chains dangled from the walls. Wooden barrels lead me to believe they were going for the “secret cellar” feel, but I think dungeon is more accurate.
La Esquina’s house salad is a simple salad of greens and queso fresco in a vinaigrette garnished with tortilla strips. It’s basic, boring but not offensive. Soft tacos are served in thin, fresh, well-made corn tortillas; unfortunately, the fillings did little for these. Steak was chewy and almost gritty while stewed chicken was just tasteless.
Tostadas were actually much more successful. The ceviche tostadas of the night were mahi-mahi, served atop a small round tortilla crisp, and the ceviche was good and flavorful. I like my ceviche a little more tart and spicy, but this one was just fine. The most delicious tostada was the crabmeat which had a lightly-spiced chipotle mayonnaise, diced avocado and lump crabmeat all atop that same tortilla crisp.
Main courses included a carne asada that was bland, dry and overcooked that needed the chimichurri sauce for any flavor at all. Chipotle-glazed shrimp were large shrimp with their heads on that didn’t taste much different than grilled shrimp. The roasted chicken was boring and unremarkable. Black beans had great garlic flavor but were too liquidy; they have great potential, but need to be thicker. Grilled green beans had an excellent char which gave them a boosted flavor and were still crisp.
Desserts were actually better than I expected. An incredibly chocolatey cake could have been more “molten” on the inside, but the rich chocolate flavor was well-balanced with a vanilla ice cream. The sweet, slightly dry bread pudding was accompanied by an excellent dulce de leche ice cream. But the real standout was the flan which wasn’t sweet and tasted like Bloomingdale’s frozen yogurt.
We were drinking sangria that was sweeter than I’d like, and I wish I had chosen a nice wine instead. Service was surprisingly good, and the entire waitstaff was attentive and helpful. However, we weren’t allowed to linger; at about 10pm, our server basically told us outright that we had to get up because the next party had arrived. And the prices… at $105 per person with tax and tip, I did feel a bit ripped off. But it’s New York; you pay to get in.
106 Kenmare Street at Cleveland Place
New York, NY 10012
(646) 613-7100
Subway: 6 to Spring Street
Bus: M103 to Kenmare/Delancey Streets
It’s amazing that a neon-signed Mexican restaurant has become a destination. La Esquina, which means “the corner” in Spanish, may be Manhattan’s only Mexican “speakeasy”, which, as evidenced by the constant crowds at Chumley’s, is a major marketing tool in a city where “getting in” is one of the coolest things that can happen to you.
Part of the mystery of La Esquina is finding the entrance. When you enter the narrow, truck-stop-esque taqueria, it seems dingy with some counter seating and fluorescent lighting. There’s always some people milling around. Don’t let the shabby vagrant fool you; he, along with a girl sitting at the counter, is probably your key to enter the red doorway.
My husband refused to believe that we were in the right place, and he was amazed when I gave our party’s name, like a secret password, she whipped out her hidden mic and radioed down that 2 more were heading down for our party. And voila! We were allowed entrance.
After climbing down a staircase to another hostess station through the kitchen and another hallway, you enter a candlelit subterranean bar and dining room. The center room has loungey couches and a large bar which is flanked on each side by tables of diners; rooms are divided by prison gates and bottles of wine. Music isn’t overpowering and complements La Esquina’s sexy feel. Wooden tables emphasize the underground dungeon feel, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if aged chains dangled from the walls. Wooden barrels lead me to believe they were going for the “secret cellar” feel, but I think dungeon is more accurate.
La Esquina’s house salad is a simple salad of greens and queso fresco in a vinaigrette garnished with tortilla strips. It’s basic, boring but not offensive. Soft tacos are served in thin, fresh, well-made corn tortillas; unfortunately, the fillings did little for these. Steak was chewy and almost gritty while stewed chicken was just tasteless.
Tostadas were actually much more successful. The ceviche tostadas of the night were mahi-mahi, served atop a small round tortilla crisp, and the ceviche was good and flavorful. I like my ceviche a little more tart and spicy, but this one was just fine. The most delicious tostada was the crabmeat which had a lightly-spiced chipotle mayonnaise, diced avocado and lump crabmeat all atop that same tortilla crisp.
Main courses included a carne asada that was bland, dry and overcooked that needed the chimichurri sauce for any flavor at all. Chipotle-glazed shrimp were large shrimp with their heads on that didn’t taste much different than grilled shrimp. The roasted chicken was boring and unremarkable. Black beans had great garlic flavor but were too liquidy; they have great potential, but need to be thicker. Grilled green beans had an excellent char which gave them a boosted flavor and were still crisp.
Desserts were actually better than I expected. An incredibly chocolatey cake could have been more “molten” on the inside, but the rich chocolate flavor was well-balanced with a vanilla ice cream. The sweet, slightly dry bread pudding was accompanied by an excellent dulce de leche ice cream. But the real standout was the flan which wasn’t sweet and tasted like Bloomingdale’s frozen yogurt.
We were drinking sangria that was sweeter than I’d like, and I wish I had chosen a nice wine instead. Service was surprisingly good, and the entire waitstaff was attentive and helpful. However, we weren’t allowed to linger; at about 10pm, our server basically told us outright that we had to get up because the next party had arrived. And the prices… at $105 per person with tax and tip, I did feel a bit ripped off. But it’s New York; you pay to get in.
No comments:
Post a Comment